Do what I did. Return, and hopefully get a new one without it (like I did).

It is an outrageous flaw to have on a TV. I remember seeing The Alamo, along with all their light gray/white sky shots and cringing.

You won't be able to fix it.

You can't rub it away.

You will never be able to ignore it.

Return it immediately and sleep the peaceful sleep of the just.

Thanks! Although, if I return it, I am going to get a different brand of TV, maybe a Samsung. After reading this thread, it looks like blobs are very common, and even one poster got a third TV that looked great but developed a blob a couple months later. If I go through the hassle of returning this, I never want to see another blog again!

It is a shame, because I think this TV otherwise looks fantastic for the price.

All brands are so hit or miss right now.

You can thank Vizio and all the other race-to-the-bottom budget mooks for that.

You can thank Vizio and all the other race-to-the-bottom budget mooks for that.

Agreed about the hit/miss of all brands. I have gone through several different TV's over the last month in my search for a satisfactory plasma replacement. I am not sure who makes the LCD panel for Sony but it has the exact same problem that I had with a 60" Sharp and a 60" Samsung, with about the same picture quality. I think you can blame the LCD manufacturers, because Samsung and Sony (not totally sure about Sony) don't make their own 60" panels in this range. But the 2 Vizio's I have had were the most uniform I have seen from a side-lit LCD (and I know they don't make their own panels). And from my observations, the quality of the 55" screens appears to be much better than the 60" ones. I currently have a M551 that is the best of all the lower-mid level sets that I have tried in the 55"-60" size. The 60" Sony would have earned a spot on my wall if not for the Blobs.

You can thank Vizio and all the other race-to-the-bottom budget mooks for that.

Yeah, the more I look into this, the more I realize what the current situation is like at this price range. Going to discuss with my wife a bit, but I am now leaning towards doing a straight out return, getting money back, and using my old 37 inch TV for a little while longer. Buying a TV should not be like playing the lottery.

You can thank Vizio and all the other race-to-the-bottom budget mooks for that.

Yeah, the more I look into this, the more I realize what the current situation is like at this price range. Going to discuss with my wife a bit, but I am now leaning towards doing a straight out return, getting money back, and using my old 37 inch TV for a little while longer. Buying a TV should not be like playing the lottery.

One thing that everyone (myself included) always seem to forget is that you could be staring at this thing potentially for hours at a time every day. If you have the following, compare that to your car, your fridge, your swimming pool, your backyard. All of those are important but do not compare to the endless scrutiny that your TV will naturally undergo. And these are your eyes we're talking about.

Given this, these two points should be in the front of your mind:

It's ok and totally understandable to be irked by every little thing on a TV.

It's also understandable to go highend on TVs without guilt if you can at all manage it.

After reading this thread, it looks like blobs are very common, and even one poster got a third TV that looked great but developed a blob a couple months later. If I go through the hassle of returning this, I never want to see another blog again!

It is a shame, because I think this TV otherwise looks fantastic for the price.

Most people come to these forums to address issues. Even within this thread I would not conclude that blobs are very common (I did read the whole thread before purchase).
I have seen a pattern where people who reports blobs bought at Costco and/or transported the box flat. There was a post IIRC of Coscto stacking these boxes horizontally in
their store too. YMMV.

Yes. There are a number of owners of the R550a series that don't do much on the Internet; never heard of the AVS Forum; are essentially happy with their purchase, so their numbers aren't represented in the discussion here. We have no issues at all with our 60" set and I've tried to mention that a number of times in this thread. I'm one of the ones that postulated about keeping the thing vertical during transport based on anecdotal evidence, and I don't think I've read any reports from people who knowingly transported it flat or saw one stored flat in Costco who have attested to the fact that their set is perfect - but I may have missed that.

The important thing to know is that while blobs/imperfections/DSE seem pervasive in this thread, there are perfect sets out there too. We can only guess at the numbers in the ratio.

Not so sure about "perfect sets" out there. When you are in a price range that includes the 550A displays I think you can demand a really good picture. My 70R550A has a really good picture. Certainly not perfect but for the most part it is quite satisfactory. Of course I would like better but I don't expect Lexus performance from a Toyota. For the most part I feel like I'm getting more than average bang for the buck. And isn't that what we're all really looking for? I returned two Vizo 70" E-series sets and the Sony is light years better.

Just ordered a 60R550A from The High Definition Store through Amazon. The blob complaints I'm seeing on here are a little concerning, but I hope I don't have the same issue as some have posted about. It took me a week to decide on this TV over others (Vizio M601D-A3R and the Sharp 60LE650 were the other frontrunners), so I still think this one was the best choice for the price.

[*] It's also understandable to go highend on TVs without guilt if you can at all manage it.

I am so in agreement with this line. In one hand I thought I was crazy spending what I did on my TV but then it was kind of justified by how much time I spend watching TV each and every day. It is my time to relax and just get immersed in whatever I am watching for those few hours every night. This purchase is also something that will be around for years.

People spend thousands of dollars to go away on a vacation that lasts a week. Here we are spending a couple of thousand on something that will last 5-10 years. Do we need it, of course not. We don't need many thing we spend money but when you put things into perspective and how much time you will actually spend watching a TV it is definitley worth the extra splurge to get the best you can afford. Of course I would never recommend going into debt and buying something that you cannot afford to pay for.

All the The R550A models got a firmware update posted a few days ago 3/04/2014 the updates are real easy to install
The updates seem to be cumulative so if you missed one it should be fine .

Quote:

Sony has designed the BRAVIA® Televisions software update process to be customer friendly. This software update (version v5.410) provides the following benefits:
Improvements over version v5.408:
Improved performance and stability of the Internet features
Benefits provided by previous updates and included in version v5.410:
Resolves a condition where a popping sound may occur when using the TV Screen Mirroring feature
Resolves a condition where the TV screen may go black when viewing a movie in a darkened room

I'm conflicted on what television to purchase even more so now that the 70" is 1499 as posted above. My main issue is how much am I losing in picture quality in reference to the 65 850a basically I'm afraid I get the 70" and then the 850 drops to around that price hard to determine what is better the 5" or discrepancy in pic. Can anyone comment if the picture is that far off? 1499 is best deal I have seen definitely

I'm conflicted on what television to purchase even more so now that the 70" is 1499 as posted above. My main issue is how much am I losing in picture quality in reference to the 65 850a basically I'm afraid I get the 70" and then the 850 drops to around that price hard to determine what is better the 5" or discrepancy in pic. Can anyone comment if the picture is that far off? 1499 is best deal I have seen definitely

Everything is a crapshoot. However, the R550A is a big crapshoot with the odds in way way in favor of casino Sony. Get the 850. My BB guy said he saw blobs on the W850A once, but when he went to show me them he couldn't find them. Also, apparently the W series is spectacular at gaming (low) lag.

Everything is a crapshoot. However, the R550A is a big crapshoot with the odds in way way in favor of casino Sony. Get the 850. My BB guy said he saw blobs on the W850A once, but when he went to show me them he couldn't find them. Also, apparently the W series is spectacular at gaming (low) lag.

Thanks I game a lot on my PC and Xbox one so that's a huge benefit that 5" definitely entices me plus the price. In all honesty I've been waiting for the Samsung sets to drop seeing how they are some what future proofed but that isn't happening. I recently sold my 65" dlp and looking to replace it so decisions are every where its becomes ridiculous thanks for the info just trying see what others feel about their purchase and differences TV purchase is not an easy one any more.

Well i got the 70r550 at best buy. It was an open box return for 1200. The tv has blobs mostly in the top right and bottom right corners. The 1200 was a steal for it i believe. Does Sony warranty this condition? Since the really good deal on these they are all gone in Missouri. What do you recommend? Thanks.

It is nasty looking there but i mostly watch sports which never get dark. But i know that it will drive me nuts during movies in dark scenes. Hopefully i can accomplish something with Sony. Thanks again for the advice.

It is nasty looking there but i mostly watch sports which never get dark. But i know that it will drive me nuts during movies in dark scenes. Hopefully i can accomplish something with Sony. Thanks again for the advice.

Looks like stuck / dead pixels. Sony should cover warranty for that.

-- edit sorry, I looked at the picture again on my computer (instead of phone) and it is not stuck pixels. I believe those are just your other device lights. the top left corner doesn't look like a blob, but more like a light bleed / cloudiness from the top left corner. Sony probably wont cover this, unless you get a sony rep that will.

a few people have tried to massage this out with some success or returning it for a new one and cross your fingers you get a better set and not a worst one. It doesn't look tooo bad, but it's all up to how much it will bother you.

It is nasty looking there but i mostly watch sports which never get dark. But i know that it will drive me nuts during movies in dark scenes. Hopefully i can accomplish something with Sony. Thanks again for the advice.

I don't understand "hitting the turn display off button before the light kills out". <---What does that mean?

At the top left of the remote it has a display off button. If you hit it you have about 3 seconds of the screen black with a back light before the panel goes completely off.

This is certainly no way to judge the performance of a display. In effect you have turned off all signal processing and the display is dimming to dark. It is not representative of what the set is capable of displaying.

How do you recommend I recreate I noticed it to begin with in a dark scene of a movie.

I suppose if you want to capture what you say you are seeing, then pause the content and take a picture of actual content. I think it is unrealistic to expect that a display will properly handle blacks and lighting if there is no content for the video processor to handle.

I'm conflicted on what television to purchase even more so now that the 70" is 1499 as posted above. My main issue is how much am I losing in picture quality in reference to the 65 850a basically I'm afraid I get the 70" and then the 850 drops to around that price hard to determine what is better the 5" or discrepancy in pic. Can anyone comment if the picture is that far off? 1499 is best deal I have seen definitely

If you can afford the higher model go for it. At 1499 for the 70" though it's a great deal and IMO a steal. Most of us paid north of 2k for this set not long ago.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tubetwister

KDL 50,60,70 R550 A latest firmware update v5.410: 03.04.2014

Sony has designed the BRAVIA® Televisions software update process to be customer friendly. This software update (version v5.410) provides the following benefits:
Improvements over version v5.408:
Improved performance and stability of the Internet features
Benefits provided by previous updates and included in version v5.410:
Resolves a condition where a popping sound may occur when using the TV Screen Mirroring feature
Resolves a condition where the TV screen may go black when viewing a movie in a darkened room

I started noticing slowness in connecting to wifi. I have this TV with only A PS4 as a source and watch Netlifx on it via the TV.
Recently there has been a longer delay until I can get to Netflix due the TV beeing too slow to get the wifi network locked.
I wasn't sure if the tv was slow or it was some other issue. Hopefully the new firmware improves on that end

1499 was a deal-of-the-day for Sunday and only in-stock in certain regions. No longer available at that price.

Of course that'd happen when I am deciding which to get smh I can probably afford the 850 but at the price it once was not sure how big the difference in pq was in reference to price now it doesn't matter as the price has changed. I should have just purchased it because there's no real way to see them side by side